Stalking Past, Shattering Present
by darkatdusk
Summary: BEGINS 15 YEARS ON FROM BONES SAYING SHES PREGNANT. THEIR SON IS MURDERED AND BROADSKY IS BACK.    Continues into B&Bs lifE. Very tragic and trust me, YOU WILL NOT EXPECT THIS! One of a kind!
1. him

Brennan was confused; she was always woken by Stephen turning on his computer. As a fifteen year old, he insisted on going on before school. But today she heard nothing. The alarm went. That's when she really got worried. She punched both the alarm and Booth next to her.

"Err... Morning to you too." Said Booth groggily.

"Listen, I can't hear Stephen." She said worriedly.

"So he had a lie in, does he even have an alarm?"

"no." She felt foolish, maybe she had overreacted. "Sorry."

"No worries, I'll go have a shower."

"ok." He kissed her and then left. But she still had that feeling. So she got up to check on Stephen.

Half way down the corridor, she stopped, this was silly. He was fine, just fine.

"Just fine," she said allowed "but just to check."

She pulled the handle down slowly, so not to wake him. Peering inside, she bit her lip. Nothing, the bed was empty. She dropped her hand and the phone, which she had been holding. Falling, she couldn't believe it. Booth caught her, after hearing the phone hit the floor and coming over. She whimpered to him that he was gone. Booth searched the room fully. Nothing, no note, no blood, no Stephen. Brennan was crying on the bed.

"Maybe he snuck out to a friend." Booth tried.

"Maybe..." Bones wasn't really listening.

Booth was sure that was it though, Stephen had tried it once before. He rushed to turn on Stephens's laptop, after figuring out the password, he opened email. After finding nothing that helped, he emailed everyone in Stephens address book to tell him where his son was.

No one had replied. Not what he wanted anyway, just a bunch of 'I don't knows'. Stephens's disappearance was scaring booth. He realised something, he was and FBI agent, what was he doing here?

"I'm going down to the lap." Brennan raised her head.

"Why?" she sniffed.

"To get them to help find Stephen." Bones was about to reply, but booth didn't want to listen. So he kissed her, grabbed Stephens's laptop and left.

Booth went straight to Sweets office. He now had an intern of his own, but he quickly asked him to leave. This was personal.

"Booth, what's up?" he looked confused, there was no case today.

"Our sons gone missing." The pleasant expression wiped from Sweets face.

"What, when?"

"Last night some time."

"So what are you going to do?"

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Booth yelled "I'm going to find him!" he simply stormed out.

"Hun? You here?"

Bones sniffed and looked up from where she was sitting on the floor. Angela smiled back.

"hey." She said sadly.

"Hey, you alright?" Angela came over and sat next to Brennan.

"I guess," she sighed and picked up one of the pictures that were scattered over the floor. "Look, this is when Michael and Stephen used to play in the street by your house. Stephens only five in this..."

She began to cry. Angela pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay, he's a strong boy. He is you and Booths kid." They sat there like that for a while, in their own thoughts.

"Anyway," Angela broke the silence. "Booths got a lead, someone came forward."

"Really, how?" Brennan let a little hope creep into her heart.

"Someone replied to the email."

"So he was just at a friend's?"

"No, I think it's a bit more complicated than that. He said he saw Stephen, so Booth brought him in. I thought you might like to be there too."

"Ok, sure." She wiped her eyes and smiled weakly at Angela. "Let's go."

They were quiet on the way to the lab. Bones starred out of the window, thinking she saw Stephen in every face. She thought about when she found out she was having him. Telling Booth after Angela and Hodgin's baby Michael had been born. How it had finally brought them together. They got married and she had Stephen. Michael and Stephen had been good friends, almost brothers. But now, fifteen years later, Stephen had gone missing. And she was on her way to the lap, like any case, but it wasn't. It was Stephens, her and Booth son.

"Tell us what you know." Booth starred at the man, really just a boy. He had arrested him once. The boy hadn't tried in school, he'd been held back a lot. Last year and the year before he had been in the same grades as Stephen. He finally dropped out; he was now a nineteen year old drug dealer. How could he possibly have any information on Stephen? Stephen was a good kid.

"Ok but it's a long story."

"Go ahead," Sweets said. "Don't leave anything out, it's all important."

"Well, we were pretty good friends in school. You raised him well," he nodded at Booth. "He tried to get me to work, try hard. That's why I managed to stay with him for two grades; I got up because of him. He knew I was getting into drugs, and when I turned nineteen I realised I was too old for school. It just wasn't my thing. So I dropped out and when into my business. Me and Stephen emailed a bit. But a last week he asked me to meet him. He wanted to try some heroin, he said. When we met up he looked jumpy, he already cancelled on me once, and it was night so I guessed you didn't know. I asked him how everything was going, he said good. He never seemed to be someone to get into drugs, and he said nothing was going on. So I sold him the drugs, it was a small amount. I figured he wouldn't be back. But last night he showed up again. He kept glancing around. He said he was worried a cop would spot us and tell you. He bought a lot, like really a lot. My worst guy buys that much every two weeks. So a lot. I don't know where he got the cash, but it seemed really weird. I followed him, I don't know why, I guess I thought he gotten caught in something. So there was this man, a prison escapee. He was still in the clothes. Stephen gave him the heroin, but the man shoved it all into Stephens's mouth. I almost screamed, that was outrageous! I was about to go over, Stephen was looking like drunk but a million times worse. But the guy pulled out a gun, and I ran. The shot fired but I still ran. I know I should have reported it but I was scared. I couldn't believe how a good guy like Stephen could get himself into..." as he tailed off Brennan let out a sob. Her brain wouldn't let it in, Stephen WASN'T dead.

"Oh, and I got a picture in my cell phone, I haven't looked at it. I know, a drug dealer coward. But here." He handed Booth his phone. "You're not going to do me for drugs are you?"

"no." Said Booth, not listening. He opened the phone. It was clear, there was his son with a blank expression, and a man holding him hard.

"Broadsky." Booth said.


	2. how

They lay together in bed, not thinking. So much had happened, not long ago they found out there son was dead. Booth was blaming himself, he was the one who put Broadsky in jail. It was his fault, he kept his phone near him, still hoping Stephen would call. Next to his phone was his gun, no one else he cared about would be harmed, he wasn't loosing Brennan too.

Meanwhile bones was thinking of her son. Everything about him. How he had loved playing cops and robbers with Michael, he had believed there was a ghost in the attic until he was eleven. The sunny days in the garden. Him crying when they were called out to a case, although cam let him come too. He would run around the lab with Michael, making everyone laugh. Everyone liked him. Then he got older, coming home with A grades. Going to play football in the park. He had plans to follow in his fathers footsteps. She remembered when he came home after his first date. Then his first kiss. She remembered all the things they'd been planning to do. they haddn't seen him in two days, hes been away longer before. But this is different, because he won't be coming back, and she wasn't sure how to live with it.

'bleep bleep.'

Imedietly booth picked up his phone. It was two in the morning. "hello?"

"hello agent Booth, this is the police. Your sons body has been identifided shot in an alley."

"ok, sent me the location, ill be there soon."

The man said ok and the coordinates came a few seconds later. Bones shook her head before burying it in her pillow. Booth pulled on his clothes and headed out alone.

It was a horrid place. Rats scurried though piles of rubbish. Blood and powder stained the floor. In the center was a body, stephens body. The police spoke to him about the time of death and how he died and what he'd been taking, but he already knew it all. He just couldn't take his eyes off stephens face.

He looked so cold, and still. Stephen was never still, he was clever and funny and handsome. He'd had so much potential. But he now lay in an alley, a gunshot through his heart. Blood stained his clothes and Booth swore he could still see terror in his eyes.

"agent." An officer said, pulling him out of his trance. "we pulled these off a guy this morning, there stephens."

Booth stared down at his sons phone and wallet. Stephen would never use them again. A tear formed in his eye, threatening to pull him over the edge. But that would be letting Broadsky win. So he shook himself. The phone, he thought, Stephen must have been in touch with Broadsky. Broadsky must have pretended to be someone and gain stephens trust, or threaten him. Thats how he got the drugs, how he got killed. There was only two numbers used in the last month, his and one he didn't know. He dialled it.

"ah, booth, i wondered when you'd be calling."

"why jake?"

"because jail is a hell hole, and what i was in for wasn't a bad thing."

"you killed people."

"who did the wrong thing, they deserved to die."

"then you should shoot yourself," booth was tired of this, so changed tactic "how did you get out?"

"i have my ways, you should know that Booth."

"the cops will be looking for you, i will be looking for you. your a wanted man jake, just hand yourself in."

"oh but ive only just begun." Booth knew he was smiling, loving he was winning. He hung up before anything else was said.

Booth looked around, was he being watched right now? Was Stephen her somewhere? Booth didn't want to let it all in. He sat against the wall and looked at his son. He willed him to move, begging god to let Stephen get up. He couldn't believe all he'd done. So many cases like this had happened, each sad. But this wasn't supposed to happen, he was the victim. He would never see his son again because of what he'd done to Broadsky. A car turned up and his friends were by his side. Bones slid down next to him and held his hand. she was so soft, and perfect...and vunrable.

Booth sat in Sweets office, neither had spoken. The sat thinking of what to do next, they both new of the danger, and the suffering already caused.

"speak to me." Said Sweets simply.

Booth went to say something, but he trusted Sweets. He had always been there. "he was supposed to have along life. Do what he loved and die old in his bed. But now he cant because of me..."

"nothing is your fault, you never would have know brosdsky would escape, how could you?"

"but...bones could be next...i"

"listen, things happen, they're not always good. But there done, blaming yourself wont bring Stephen back. You need to stay strong and stop his killer."

Booth nodded. "where would he be? And what stops him escaping again?"

"they have special prisons, he wont get out twice. What about the number?"

"right, we can trace it."

Later that day Booth and Brennan headed out. The number had traced to a flat complex in the city. Near the alley. Booth knew Broadsky will have left, but there might be some clues as to where he was going. When the got out of the car Bones held his hand. they were together on this, always.

Booth held his gun out, the door was unlocked. Was it a trap? No sound, nothing. The flat looked empty, as the louge came into view, there was a sniper on the table. Booth raised the gun, he was still here. But as he entered the room, he and Brennan gasped. Broadsky lay on the floor, his eyes shut. There was no blood on him, although his jail clothes next to him were covered in stephens blood. Along with Stephens book, which he used to draw and write in. It also had addresses and numbers. Bones felt his neck.

"hes breathing, but not much." She looked up at him, what had happened and what should they do?


	3. grief

Booth stood, head down. The words being spoken didn't sound like English to him. The man saying them hadn't really known Stephen. Stephen had been the most amazing son and now he was dead. It tore him apart that here he was, standing at his sons funeral. It should be the other was around, he thought, I should be dead. He thought of his enemy, Broadsky. He was laying in a coma comfy on a hospital bed. The freak gun malfunction had knocked him backwards, hard into the wall. But he was alive. A police officer is always near, in case he wakes up, to take him to a secure jail. But would he ever wake up? Would he really be securely locked away? Booth just wasn't sure of anything anymore.

Next to him was Bones. Also caught in her own grief. She had been scared about having Stephen, but it was the best thing that had happened to her, since meeting Booth. She had really loved him, and her life balanced between family, friends and work. But that was over.

Others also stood around them. Friends of Stephen's and family. Her best friends were there too. Angela was crying, she had been like an auntie to Stephen. Some said some words also. About the amazing boy who was kind and smart and ambitious. How he wanted to grow up and be like his dad, have a family who he loved. His kind nature towards them and his confidence to show how he felt, and that he had the best of two great parents.

They had chosen to have him cremated. And as the flames reached for the sky, booth finally let grief wrap him up. His son wasn't coming back, ever. He let tears form in his eyes, and flickers of anger grow inside him. But then he realised that it wouldn't do anything. Anger wouldn't make things good again. The only way to do that would be to go on. To remember Stephen for who he was. And to make him proud, not fall into grief, but carry on.

"This is not the end." Booth whispered to the flames. He said goodbye to his incredible son, who hadn't deserved his fate. But pictured him before that, the beautiful smiling face. And he thanked his, for bringing him closer to Bones.

Bones sensed what Booth was thinking. She slipped her hand into his. Also picturing her beautiful son. She looked at the flames and smiled, whispering.

"This is not the end."


	4. a new start

_The silence surrounded him. He couldn't move, couldn't see. He was helpless. He couldn't remember, but he was aware. He could feel himself there; he just couldn't connect that with movement. He sensed people around him, people who cared. But he didn't know anything about what was happening._

Booth sat across the table to Bones. He couldn't believe what she was saying, she wanted another baby. It wasn't that he didn't, but he was surprised she would. Bones hadn't even looked at Michael since what happened. It was late, so they headed to bed. When Bones got in, Booth simply nodded. They lay with each other properly for the first time since Stephen died.

Time went slowly for Bones now, nothing seemed as it did before. Could she trust things? She also looked at cases differently, knowing truly how it felt to be on the other end of them. She thought of Stephen often, but didn't admit it. Work went past, time went past.

_He could hear, he heard what they were saying. They were talking about him, whether they should keep him on the machine, because he had no family that they could find. He screamed in his head, but they didn't hear. He couldn't die, because he had sworn that Booth would die before him. _

"Harrison," Booth smiled bigger that ever "our Harrison."

Bones smiled back as she held there little boy. She didn't remember what had just happened, only the joy of holding a child again. It was at this moment, starring down at her baby on a hospital bed, she knew things would be ok. Things were ok, here with Booth and Harrison. Outside her friends waited for the beautiful face of her son.

Harrison was perfect, so perfect. Brown hair and deep, brown eyes. So delicate, and fragile. Booth wasn't too worried though, Brennan was a great mother. He hugged her and his son together. Then they headed out to introduce Harrison to their friends.

They loved every minute with their son. Cherishing it more that with Stephen. They still thought of him, but didn't compare him and Harrison. Because they loved them both. Harrison was a smart baby, learning quickly and making everyone laugh. He grew quickly too, keeping the lovely eyes and hair.

_He was bored, so bored. How long had he been here, years? He couldn't move anything, only hear and smell. His life was so delicate, but he hated to think that. He could stay awake longer now. There, did his eye lid twitch? _

The sun danced through the leaves, onto the park floor. This was such a good idea. They were picnicking in the west park, in the shade of the trees. It was Michael's idea, for Harrison's sixth birthday. Michael was just back from college, now 22, and an amazing uncle to Harrison. Brennan was so grateful of Michael. He always said the right things; he was the one who told Harrison about Stephen. Booth had said not to at all, but she had missed all the pictures. Now Stephen's pictures hung in the hall, and he would live on once they were gone. It had hurt Michael too though, Stephen had been his best friend, but it hadn't broken him. He was a great person, so kind and caring. He was hoping to open a charity one day to help orphans in well developed and less developed countries.

_His hand twitched, he could move! No one had seen it though. He felt angry that they weren't here. For a moment he was also upset no one ever came for him other that the doctors. He was tired now, but he was getting stronger._

It was Harrison's first day at middle school. Booth was nervous, although he kept telling himself it was stupid. Harrison had been going to school for years, this was just a different school. But he couldn't shake the feeling. Brennan squeezed his hand, so she felt it to. Surely it was just because of Harrison, although it didn't make that much sense. Well, whatever it was, something wasn't right. He just knew it. Today was the day; something is going to happen to ruin their happiness.

_Today was the day. He had been waiting, the doctors had been waiting. Brain activity going up, they were happy. He wasn't, he needed agent Booth dead. Today was the day; a miracle is going to happen. He flexed his hand and pulled his eyes open. The doctors gasped and a policeman stood to attention, but nothing could stop him now. He pulled himself up and slammed the policeman before he knew what was happening. The gun was his, and soon freedom would be too. Booth would finally be hunted and killed by Jacob Broadsky, for it was his time. _

There was no case today. So after saying good luck to Harrison, they headed back home. They didn't speak, but knew one another had that strange feeling. Brennan was sure she had felt it before, but it wasn't the feeling she gotten when Stephen started middle school. Or when Harrison first started school. This was the feeling that something else was just, wrong. Something wasn't right. Then she remembered.

"Booth." She squeaked.

"What's up?" he stopped abruptly, sensing something in her voice.

"This is going to sound crazy, but when Stephen...you know," she couldn't bring herself to say it, but Booth nodded that he knew. "Well I knew something was wrong that morning and..."

"I remember, and I know, you feel it again."

"You feel it too."

"A bit, but mines more like an old memory waking up."

"You mean like..."

"Yep."

They ran home and flicked the local news on. If they were right, it would say, even after this long. At first the sport was reported, so Bones relaxed a bit. But Booth was still worried. What if? He kept running through what happened with Stephen, and then all the great memory's with Harrison.

Then the reporter said it. Ten pictures of policemen came up, honouring them for today. They had been killed in a hospital, shot dead by one of their own guns. Then it showed a CCTV recording of a man shooting them. The man loudly said "agent booth will suffer, and I will win this time." The picture was as clear as the name the reporter had said at the start. Broadsky had recovered and escaped.


	5. the full story

Booth felt anger rising in him. His life seemed to be being ruled by someone who had once been his friend. He threw the remote into the TV and watched the screen explode into a million pieces. Bones yelped but said nothing. She sat there starring out of the window, as if expecting Broadsky to jump in and kill them. Although they weren't far off.

A second later the window above them shattered and Brennan screamed. She had managed to turn, so the bullet had hit her arm. Once Booth had checked she was ok, he raced out of the door.

On a roof a few blocks away, he found Broadsky. He looked only a little weak, despite the fact he'd just been in a coma. In a chair, on the roof, he waited casually for Booth.

"Hello Booth." He smiled sweetly.

"Jake."

"You underestimated me once again."

"I guess I did," Broadsky had a hand gun on his lap, and his sniper to one side. "Are you going to kill me?"

"That would be easy wouldn't it?" Booth said nothing, he starred ahead. "Did I get your girl?"

"In the arm, bad angle."

"Ah, well, I'm a little out of practise."

"What do you want Jacob?"

"I want you dead."

"Then why don't you do it, like you did with all the others who didn't deserve to die."

"Oh but Booth, you've ruined my life, I think you deserve to die." That struck a nerve. Booth stood tall, weapon less, but that didn't bother him. Sitting in that chair was his murderer enemy. The man he once knew was gone, swallowed by this bitter hatred.

"No, Jake, YOU did that. You chose to go down the path that ruined your life. When you got back from the war, you could have had a life. Get a job, a house, maybe a partner. But you couldn't let go of the war. You carried it on in your own special way, but it's not right. You are a wanted man, kill me, hundreds will still come after you. YOU chose that, YOU killed Jacob Broadsky!"

Booth punched him in the face. He had been smiling, amused, and was taken off guard. But he recovered and ran before Booth could do anything else. He'd disappeared in a second. Booth fell to his knees, what would that, man do next?

Bones came up behind him and put her hand on Booth's shoulder.

"Should I call the police?"

"No, he's gone, he's gone..." Booth couldn't believe how one man could be so proud of what he'd done. Couldn't believe how a man doing something so wrong could still be so powerful. "Oh god, Harrison!"

They raced down the road, breaking all the speed limits. When they got to the school they almost smashed the gates, but they didn't care. Booth glanced around; he knew that one shot could end a life. Ambulances wouldn't get there in time if the shot was accurate.

The office staff tried to question them, but he did something he shouldn't really do. He flashed the badge in her face and even threatened an arrest, and then she shut up. They ran down the corridor. Harrison was there, just going into his class room, they grabbed him and pulled him away.

"Mum, dad? What are you doing here?"

"You're in danger...we all are..." Booth blurted out, this wasn't happening. He hated that fate was against him. Couldn't he have a normal life, even if he was a cop?

"Darling, we need to tell you a story..." Brennan said, and then she told it. She told him everything about the war, Broadsky and booth, and then Stephen. He knew his brother had died, but not the details, not how connected it was to their lives. Then she told him about Brodsky's escape. Harrison stayed silent the whole time, telling himself it was all a game. But when Bones had finished, he saw the look in her eyes. The pain, the loss and the terror. This was NOT a game, this was serious. They all fell into each other, grief and terror consumed them.


	6. goodbye

That night, they didn't want to be together. Well Booth didn't, it was too dangerous. He looked at the most important people in his life. Brennan stood near the door, nervously playing with her zip. She had no idea how beautiful she was, how now still he caught his breathe when he saw her. He couldn't live without her. Then there was Harrison, their son. He was handsome, his mothers hair and his height. He sighed, could he loss another son? The police had hundreds of men on Broadsky, but the man was too powerful. If he wasn't dead they were. Oh god, where did this all go wrong?

Bones came up next to Booth. She held his hand and leaned in to kiss him. They held each other tightly and didn't mind Harrison groaning in the background. This was it, a goodbye. Booth couldn't endanger their lives anymore. Broadsky needed to see that this was his fight, not his families.

They sat down and wouldn't part. They didn't want to. In between kisses, Bones kept murmuring. All she would say is what if you don't come back? Booth couldn't respond, he didn't know how to. He just smothered his wife, hoping for the world to end right then. Brennan lifted her eyes to his.

"I love you."

"I love you." for once, Booth let tears fall. It had been so long since he'd felt them on his cheek, but he couldn't control them. They let their faces fall together, willing that moment to last forever.

Harrison finally came to join them. Booth wasn't sure how the coy would react. He pulled the two of them apart and said something that really reminded Bones of Booth. He was only young, but he really did understand.

"Mum and I will be fine," he smiled seriously "go be my hero." He hugged his father, and then led them both to the door.

"Good luck...I..." was all Bones could manage. Booth simply nodded. Then they were off, to Angela's house. They would stay there until Booth came to them. If he didn't die first.


	7. the end of a foe

Booth sat, alone. He didn't do anything, he just waited. The door bell went, Sweets was at the door. This surprised Booth, but he was glad.

"Hi." Booth said sadly, weighted down by the task ahead.

"I heard from Angela." Booth nodded. "I wanted to say... I guess I'm proud. This is a big decision, you know what could happen."

"I have to do this, I cant loss anyone else."

"What about yourself?" same old Sweets. But Booth didn't seem to have an answer. Was he ready to die?

"You need to go Sweets."

"No, I want to be here with you now. Broadsky won't be here yet, he'll see my car anyway."

"You know that's not how he works, he's crazy."

"No, he's a human down the wrong path." Booth shook his head; maybe he was just as crazy as Broadsky. He didn't know what to this.

"I..." was all he got to say before Jacob crashed through another window.

The three men starred at each other. Booth pulled his gun, so did Broadsky. He didn't have his sniper, only his hand held.

"This is your end Booth."

"No Jacob." He punched Broadsky in the lip, where he'd split it earlier.

"Why did you choose this path?"

"Because the worlds messed up. If someone is going to rot in jail there whole life, what's the point? Why not just kill them?"

"Because no one should have control over life and death, not justly."

"What about me and you? Would you kill me?"

"Don't go there."

"We both know it's the only way, jail can't hold me."

"You could change."

"never." Everyone in the room believed him.

Broadsky grabbed a vase and threw it. Booth ducked but it exploded on Sweets head. Booth was attacked again and again. But in the anger Broadsky let his gun drop. When he noticed he looked up, shocked at his mistake. He was unarmed and Booth was pointing a gun at his head. Broadsky glanced down at his gun, it was in easy reach. But he hesitated.

Booth thought of Bones, his friends, Harrison. The people who had died because of Broadsky, his friends, his son. He thought of all the suffering, the loss. The escapes Broadsky had made. Time slowed, he thought of Sweets bleeding behind him. His wife and son and friends and their son in a house nearby. He squeezed the trigger.

"Never hesitate Jake."


	8. Hero

Sirens came closer. Sweets had managed to call backup, although he was now unconscious with the effort. Booth knew he should have helped him, or done something. But all he could do was stare at the body of Jake. He couldn't believe he'd really done it. Booth knew Broadsky was dead, when you've been in the army you can tell. Broadsky was dead. He had done it, with no one telling him to. This was the first time he had even killed someone with only himself telling him to do it. Was he a monster?

Behind him he could hear people now. Taking Sweets into an ambulance, checking the scene. Someone asked if it was safe, over. He said yes, but it didn't feel like it was him. He felt like all he was were his eyes. They couldn't move from the body of Jacob Broadsky. The man he had killed.

Eventually someone took the body away. It seemed to Booth that a lifetime had passed, with his eyes locked to a dead man. The gun was still in his hand, everyone knew what had happened. But they didn't, they didn't know that that man had terrified him. In the war things hadn't really scared him, worried, but not scared. But this man terrified him. He would have made Booth suffer, killed him and all he loved. But did that justify taking a life? None of the people around him could feel what he felt, an emptiness so large he could fall into it. He hadn't won. But he had protected his family, innocent people. I'm not innocent though, or am I? He wouldn't go to jail, he knew that. The police could shot people. Especially people with guns who had killed dozens of people and escaped prison and...

Someone pulled him away and drove him to Angela's. Bones ran and hugged him, careful of the injuries he hadn't even noticed. For once, he didn't fall into Brennan. He stayed ridged, unsure of who he was and what he deserved.

"Booth, you going to get up today?" said Brennan sweetly. She wanted to be normal, but Booth knew behind the mask she was falling apart. He hadn't got up in three days, he couldn't. After shaking his head, he turned away from his wife.

It hurt Bones to see her husband so broken. She wanted to help, but she didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure there was anything to say sorry about. He was upset about killing Broadsky. So what did she say? Yesterday she had gone to see Sweets, thinking he might help. But the doctors said he was too weak to be seen. She felt like crying and screaming. Why? Why had all this happened to them? Why did they have to be here so sad when they could be a normal, happy family?

Harrison was in Michael's room. He was out at work, so Harrison was alone. He sat on the window seat, looking out at the world. He was so confused, could this really happen to people? He knew his dad stopped bad men, and people were killed and stuff. But he thought that was only something that happened to people on the news, not real people. Not his brilliant mum and brave dad. Not to his brother he had never met or to him himself. But it had. He was very scared, but he saw his dad as a hero. He had saved mum, the damsel in distress. He was proud of his dad.

A week later, Sweets sat in the lounge of Booth and Brennan's house with Booth. The others were at Angela's. Sweets looked pale and his head was bandaged. But he was okay, his brain was intact, just a little shock. This was Booth's first time in the house since that night. He couldn't take his eyes from the spot. There was no mark or stain, but he knew exactly where the body had fallen.

"What are you thinking?" said Sweets, he was here to help, Booth told himself.

"I don't know... so much I guess."

"Like what?"

"Like whether I made the right choice. I keep thinking of the family suffering, and that what I did protects them. But I still don't feel right."

"Well, you are protecting them. You always have whatever it's from."

"No, I haven't. Stephen got killed. Bones almost did, you almost did. I haven't protected people well enough."

"You've done all that's expected and more. And you need to move on. What's done is done. You may not be proud, but you can't undo it."

"No, I can't. But I can't forget it either. I killed a man with my own free will. No one told me to shoot him. I am responsible; I am as bad as he was."

"No, you were protecting your family."

"He thought he was protecting the public."

"But he was wrong."

"No one will think of me as a hero, Sweets," he put his head in his hands, feeling tears for again.

Harrison had this way of sneaking into his dad's car. The boot was a bit dodgy, and didn't lock. So if he timed it right, he could get inside and stow away. His parents knew, but he did it randomly, so it wasn't expected. This is what he had done on that day. He was standing in the doorway, left open for air and comfort.

"I think you're a hero." He said innocently. He came out from his hiding place and smiled at his father.

Booth only smiled, although he almost laughed to. Here was his excellent son, who had came with them. He was smart and funny, and alive. He's alive, Booth thought, and out of danger. Yeah, he would be okay.

They spent the rest of the time talking between the three of them, about all sorts of things. Sweets and Harrison really got along, Booth was happy to have the pressure off of life. They called Angela's after a while, and soon it was like a mini party. Michael even showed up after work. Maybe it was all over.

_**Please review and tell me what you think! If I should carry on writing say that too please! Really eager to hear from you, thanks**_


	9. Or maybe not

Or maybe not. It was about midnight, some people were asleep, or simply holding each other, glad everything was over. Booth sat thinking, still haunted by what he had done. But his mind was at ease, he had done the right thing, others had assured him of that. Everyone seemed so happy, but also sad. However horrid and terrifying Broadsky had been, it doesn't change the fact they were all in the room he was shot dead in.

A beeping sound filled the air, loud and high pitched. Angela and Hodgen's stirred awake. Everyone looked at each other. Harrison curled close to Booth. No one knew what the noise was; it seemed to be coming from the outside wall, about where Broadsky had came through the window.

Suddenly it hit Booth, he knew the noise from the war; a bomb about to go off. Once again he had that sensation that time had stopped, as he thought deeply. Broadsky, how could Booth be so stupid? Broadsky had planted a bomb before he had come in, in case something went wrong. And now it was about to go off, when Booth's family and friends were all in the room.

"Get out! OUT!" he screamed. Then the confusion started. People panicked, they didn't know what was happening. Some were still groggy from drink or sleep. Some didn't really believe the danger. "RUN! OUTSIDE NOW!"

Booth knew there was no hope of getting everyone out and away in time. But he hoped to help by getting them as far away as he could. But people weren't ready, it was the middle of the night and only a few people understood the danger. He heard the beeping change pitch, five seconds left. He glanced around at the wall, where he knew the bomb was.

How big was it? How dangerous? Would the radiation kill them all anyway? His mind flicked to neighbours, people who didn't even know about what was going on. Two doors down a woman had just had a baby. She had only left hospital yesterday, would that baby have a life beyond these few seconds?

As Booth brought his focus back to the living room, he almost collapsed at what he saw. He knew Bones knew of the danger, but Harrison didn't. His son was at the wall, listening to the beeping. Booth screamed at his wife, who was desperately trying to pull their son away, and at his son, to run. Everyone needed to run, he did too, but he ran the wrong way. Still wanting to be a hero, he ran to his family. But he barely made it two feet, when the explosion rocked the house. Everyone screamed and ran as flames and smoke shot upwards. The wall was on fire. A beam from the ceiling fell on top of Booth as he groped for his wife and son. He just saw them shrieking as the flames engulfed him. Then the world went black.


	10. Death toll

"_Ahh, agent Booth."_

"_Jake, your dead!"_

"_Maybe so."_

"_Why did you do all this? We were friends."_

"_Maybe, but then you wimped out. I did my gun proud."_

"_No, you killed people, on your own."_

"_I did what was right."_

"_No, you didn't."_

"_Look, you didn't join me on earth, but join me now."_

"_Am I dead?"_

"_Come with me Booth."_

"_NO!"_

"NO!" Booth's eyes snapped open. He was starring at the top of an ambulance. There was no Broadsky, no weird white nothingness. He was here, on earth. He rose, no one was in the ambulance with him, and this was a good sign. He couldn't be that hurt. But it also meant the crew had lots of stuff to do. He sat fully up, his back hurt but not too badly. His ankle was in cast and his arm in a sling. Nothing around him suggested there had been radiation from the bomb.

In front of him he could see Cam. She had tears in her eyes but looked okay. Talking with her was Miss Dans, their next door neighbour. She also had a sling, but nothing else. He husband came into view; he had no slings or casts, but red skin on one side. Burnt, badly from the look of it.

Near him were some crutches, he probably wasn't supposed to get up, considering he only had one arm working. But he realised the arm in the sling wasn't broken; it was burnt. Red and brown ran up to his elbow. And he didn't have a first finger. The others were burnt, but this one was gone. Booth starred at the gap on his hand.

Outside there was chaos. The fire at Booth's and Brennan's house had been put out, although half the house was rubble and the rest being secured by the fire team. Next doors looked much the same. Flaming trees lay across the road, threatening to set the opposite side alight. Another fire crew battled with them. The other side of Booth's house, which was now not going to fall over, hadn't caught much of the fire. So the house next to it was fine. But the house with the new born baby was on fire. The wind had been blowing that way, another two fire crews attached the flames. A car blew up in the road. The fuel making another explosion. Booth saw the newborn baby and his mother. The mother was sitting in an ambulance, he leg in a cast up to the thigh. She was holding tightly and crying over her baby. With a dark face, Booth struggled over to them. The baby was dead.

Booth ignored the paramedics telling him to lie back down. He needed to check the damage he had caused. There were five fire engines on the road, three police cars and four ambulances. The police were closing the road and keeping back other residence. The fire crews still battled the fires. Gardens were on fire too, although not threatening to spread it further.

Booth stumbled over to the next ambulance. Hodgen's was outside, his face terrible. He had scars and burns on his face and a bandage around his chest. Inside the truck Angela was crying. She was hooked to oxygen and her arms were in casts. She was leaning over Michael. He lay in the bed. The face was distorted by cuts and burns. One arm was burnt to the bone and the other was messed up. His chest didn't move, nothing was hooked to him.

Outside again he spotted Sweets. Despite everything Booth's friend smiled at him. He was in a wheel chair, both his legs in casts. Higher up him was fine. Then there was only the last ambulance. It was parked further away, in cleaner air. Paramedics rushed around.

Inside laid his son and wife. Booth could only star at what was happening. Both of them were alive. Paramedics tried to talk to Booth or take him out, but he didn't know. Harrison was on oxygen. A heart monitor was attached to him, it didn't sound right. Everything about him was messed up. He was black from sot and red from burns. He had only on arm and his legs in casts. The paramedics pressed his chest with their hands. They checked the monitor and his pulse. Then they turned off the monitor and shook their heads. They called the dead time. Booth yelled at the stars behind the ambulance.

Bones lay in the bed next to Harrison. She had a neck brace on and her arms in casts. Her legs actually looked okay, with only mild burns. She was hooked up to oxygen and a monitor as well. Reassuringly it beat steady. Her face had blood, cuts and burns. She still looked beautiful to Booth.

Outside again, he found a quiet place to sit. All of this was his fault; he had had so many chances to kill Broadsky. Before he went crazy and ruined Booth's life. There was also the bomb; Booth knew he should have checked. He should have suspected, Broadsky always had a backup plan. Three people had died a baby, Michael and his son. Others were badly injured; this was going to change everyone's life. Even people who hadn't known what was happening, why the bomb had been there.

More vans arrived; bodies were zipped into bags and carried away. Someone came to get Booth, and everyone was taken to hospital to be fully checked. Booth felt himself getting further away from his son, why had another one been taken from him? He closed his eyes and tried to dream everything away.


	11. Suicide of a friend

Silence, he was alone. He was in a small room. He wasn't that hurt, his arm had been dressed to stop infection. He could use his had though, so he walked on crutches. His back was okay and he only had one scar down his face. Cam and Miss Dans had already gone home. Mr Dans was in a room like Booth's. Sweets had gone home also, but had to come in for checks. Miss Sands, the one who had lost the baby, was also in a similar room. Angela had gone home but Hodgen's was still in. His chest was weak and the scars deep. He didn't talk much anymore, physical and emotional pain was too much for him. Bones was in intensive care. She had been paralysed from a wall falling on her spine. She was in a coma. Her arms were okay and she didn't have any major burns. But Booth couldn't be near her.

The next day Booth way allowed to leave. He went to Angela's. About midday they got a call from the hospital about Hodgen's.

"Doctor, what's up?" Angela said in a shaky voice.

"We were informing your husband of what had gone on, he was a little confused. I told him he will need medication for his chest and that your son is dead. He committed suicide. "

"What! No you're lying." She screamed down the phone. The doctor kept cool.

"He started to scream that it wasn't fair. Then he told us to let you know he will always love you. "

"I know that!"

"He pulled the monitor down onto him. It stopped his heart and pierced his lungs. He died on the spot." The doctor hung up, knowing Angela wouldn't want to talk anymore.

"Oh god Booth." She said, her face covered in tears. Booth hugged her and let her cry. He also let a few tears fall for his friend.

It was four days since the explosion. Every day Booth dreamt of Broadsky, also seeing everyone hurt by all that had happened. His lost sons haunted him. He wasn't a hero, he was a killer. He had killed his sons. There was also Brennan; she was still not allowed to be seen. He may have killed her too. No, that was a horrid thing to think, Booth couldn't handle that thought at all.

After a week had passed, Booth was finally allowed to see Bones. The hospital room was plain white. Machines surrounded the bed, wires leading to it. A heart monitor reassuringly beat steadily. On the bed was a small, broken looking woman. Her face showed signs of cuts and burns but they were healing and disappearing. Her arms were out of casts and also weren't badly burnt. Everything about her was pale, small and sickly. She didn't stir, only a slight movement of the chest as she breathed. Booth stroked her pale hand with his three fingers. With the better hand he combed her hair. It tore him apart, his wife lying here so still, so small. She was nothing here. But she was alive, Booth couldn't believe how unmarked she was. Apparently she had been found under a wall. This wall had not been on fire and had fallen quite early. This meant that although it caused the coma and paralysation, it had shielded her from the flames.

That night Booth didn't sleep. He sat out in the garden crying and screaming at the stars. Why had all this happened? It was his entire fault but what was worst was that he couldn't think how to avoid it. Not all of it anyway, he should have checked for the bomb, but what about Stephen. Could he have stopped that? And Broadsky getting out again? The only thing keeping Booth alive right then was Bones. In his head he could still hear her heart beating.

**Too mean? Hope this didn't completly terrify you! More to come soon; please let me know what you think!**


	12. The final chapter

Booth sat for the hundredth time in the small office. He listened again to the doctors saying that he should consider taking Bones off intensive care. He had thought, so many times, about it. Bones didn't deserve to die without knowing anyone was there. He wanted her to know he had always been there, never giving up. His arms ached to hold her again, to feel her warmth in his.

"I want her to die with me, knowing I'm there."

"That is very unlikely, with the smoke damage on the body there is little chance of her knowing who you are anyway."

"I don't believe you, she was protected."

"She was protected from the flames, not the smoke. The amount of carbon inhaled from the smoke had almost certainly caused huge brain injuries. That is of course only in the unlikely event of her even waking up."

"She will wake up."

"If she did the problems in her brain may kill her seconds later anyway."

"No, she will be fine."

"People's lives are at stake, the intensive care could be being used on someone with a much bigger chance of survival."

Booth got up, opened the door and left. He didn't care what the doctors said, Bones would be okay, she had to.

Booth lay awake on the bed. The phone was always next to him. His house was still not repaired, so he was in Michael's old room. Angela had been very kind and strong to give him the room, with Michael dead and everything.

Sweets had paid him a visit today, he often did. He still felt he could help Booth. But Booth seemed set that this was his entire fault, he had killed his friends and family and neighbours. He had endangered many people and lost people so much. Booth was still sure that without Brennan here he would have killed himself.

The phone rang the hospital.

"Hello, Sealy Booth?"

"Yes?"

"Your wife is getting worse."

"What?"

"Her condition is now critical; she is going to die in about an hour."

"What! Defiantly."

"Yes, I'm very sorry."

"I will be right there."

He jumped in the car and put on his siren. He didn't care about rules or danger or anything. Streaming down the road, he wouldn't let the information set into his brain. Bones WAS NOT GOING TO DIE. She couldn't, could she?

He bolted up the now familiar steps to her room. About five doctors stood around her, trying to stabilize her heart. Booth saw what a state she was in. Her face covered in sweat, shifting around on the bed. The doctors quickly explained that she was in a coma but it was so intense she could move and maybe hear. He didn't really understand and he didn't care. He looked again at his wife, with doctors rushing around her. This couldn't make her feel good, and he had finally accepted it wasn't going to help.

"stop." He ordered.

"okay." the doctors understood what he wanted. They left Booth alone with his dying wife.

Once Booth had removed the wires from her, he held her and whispered to her. Talking about all sorts of things, Harrison's funeral plans, what had happened to people. About their house rebuild and the sad neighbours. He felt her slipping away, a strange presence in his head. As her body went still, her eyes opened.

"Booth," she said, barely a whimper "I love you...let go love..."

With tears in his eyes, Booth placed his wife down. Down the corridor and outside he went. The fresh air felt to light in his throat. Brennan's last words lingered in his mind. He needed to carry on, be happy and move on, that's what she wanted. But how could he? The world had just crashed down around him. As he looked ahead he saw the blank uncertainty of the future. To one side he saw the lead up to the disaster. Broadsky, bullets and terror, losing Stephen. To his other side he saw the bomb. Flames engulfing his wife and son, his friends looking so scared. The dead baby in Miss Sands burnt arms. Death and suffering, and Broadsky's smiling face. Broadsky had won, Booth realised. He turned around, there was the before. Happy memories from his life. With Bones and their sons, times out with his friends and even past cases. Anything that wasn't disappointment, war or Broadsky. He didn't want to turn back forwards; he didn't want to leave the happiness. But that happiness wasn't real, it had been once, but not now. He needed to find new happiness. It wouldn't be easy, but he had to do it. For Bones and Stephen and Harrison and Michael and Hodgen's and all the others. Also for himself, he needed to move on and feel happy again.

Bones was buried in between Stephen and Harrison. Booth was there for the double funeral, with his friends surrounding him. He had Parker with him too. This was the end of all he had loved, but the start of something else. No one knows what that will hold. But we all know Booth will keep all he has lost alive in his heart.

Stephen Booth

15 years

Loving son and amazing friend x

Harrison Booth

12 years

Bubbly and always discovering x

Temperance Booth

50 years

The most incredible wife, friend,

Mother and employee ever.

More radiant that the sun x

**The end. Hope you enjoyed it, although yes it is a tragedy and it's very sad. Let me know what you're thinking about it! ;) **

**Darkatdusk xxx**


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